The 84-year-old pharmacologist was awarded half of the prestigious 8m Swedish kronor (£631,000) prize for her discovery of artemisinin,
a drug that proved to be an improvement on chloroquine, which had
become far less effective as the malaria parasites developed resistance.

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“The work was the top priority so I was certainly willing to sacrifice my personal life,” the famously understated scientist later recalled.
On Monday, nearly half a century after her life-changing quest began, Tu was awarded the Nobel prize in medicine for her role in creating a drug that helped slash malaria mortality rates in Africa and Asia, saving millions of lives.

Yet for all her achievements, Tu, who is now 84, remains a little known
figure, even in her native China where she had drifted into obscurity
despite the magnitude of her discovery.